Knight Errant
by Von
Summary: One day, if they can do this, history will say that the human race was saved because one infected girl didn't turn. History will be wrong.


A request by Ninja Master for a Harry/Ellie story, the game's wonderful DLC and the gorgeous dubstep song _Sandblast_ by Fox Stevenson conspired to create this.

This is officially AU of Last of Us. Let's see where this story takes us.

As a writing experiment, I encourage people to chip in with their own ideas of where to go, what to try, what might seem reasonable for the characters in this situation etc. Americans, I urge you to speak up about your local knowledge on food, culture and environs! Everyone else, how would you or someone you know behave in a world of infected? What do you think the characters should do next? Harry's back-story is set and so is one other thing that I'll reveal in the next chapter but other than that… the story has no ending and very little middle. Let's see if this turns into a cooperative tapestry - or if I go mad and revert to singular writing within a week. ;P

Fair warning: I've lifted some canon conversation by the truck-load. Some things just can't be done better.

**Knight Errant**

The mall was scary in so many ways. The first, plainly obvious one was that it was out-of-bounds and unpatrolled - except for Winston - and therefore possibly home to infected spore-spurting corpses on top of the usual infected. This was a familiar fear though, the boogieman of growing up post-apocalypse.

No, it was the _un_familiar which made it truly frightening. Under the muck and grime, the floor was polished marble. Some stairs were weirdly blocky and grooved because once, a long time ago, they _moved_. By themselves. Automatically, for people too tired or lazy to walk up (or down) them. (And it was the 'down' that _really_ got her. What next, moving _floors_?)

The walls were splashed with giant images of unimaginable luxury and beauty - far-off locales, sunny beaches free of any fear. Women with perfect skin and plump lips, draped in enough jewels to buy an apartment. Mothers and fathers in vibrant, comfortable clothing leaning against each other, smiling as their children played at their feet - a snapshot into a time 'before'. This dusty, echoing mausoleum was an abandoned temple to the unthinking affluence and power of her parents' generation. Power that had disappeared practically overnight, a massive civilisation felled by one tiny little mutated fungus.

Comic books always had the main characters finding the ruins of lost planets or people. It was frightening on a deep, instinctual level, to wander through that of her _own_ people.

'This is what was' it whispered into her heart and mind 'and this is what will never be again'.

Everyone born after the infection… there was nothing for them. No _point_ to them living. They all, she included, were just the clinging refuse of a species too stubborn to admit that it was already too late.

Ahead of her Riley turned and folded her arms impatiently.

"Sorry!" Ellie apologised, quickening her step. She reached her friend, footsteps muffled in the dirt, just as something else reached them both.

A sound. Tinny, _cheerful_, musical. They exchanged a look, Ellie trying to convey going back, Riley insisting they check it out. With a sigh, she caved to her more bullheaded friend. As usual.

Walking as quietly as they could, the two girls sneaked closer. The tune became clearer - so happy and guileless that it set all the hairs on the back of her neck to standing. How could it be anything but bait? They were so stupid, they should turn back - but if she grabbed Riley now, her friend wouldn't go without a fight, and-

They came to a window of a shop - it was just for selling _coffee_ - wedged half open. Riley dropped to a crouch and slid under the sill, slowly edging up to peek over the lip before quickly ducking back down. Then she frowned before taking another, longer look. Ellie crept over and took a look herself. At first she couldn't quite make it out, but then…

Light. Just a little square of it, coming from maybe a foot off the ground and reflecting against…

She ducked down.

Glasses. There was someone in there, wearing glasses, sitting on the floor, and they were…

She took another look.

Yep. They were playing some kind of hand-held _video game_.

In an abandoned, off-limit mall.

Beside her, Riley abruptly stood up.

"Hey!" Her friend greeted the stranger, ignoring Ellie grabbing her leg. There was a clatter of something - probably the machine - hitting the ground, then:

"Woah, woah! Easy!" Riley raised her hands. SHIT! He was armed?! Of _course_ he was armed, _shit_!

Ellie pulled back a bit, looked around for another window or maybe a door. She didn't need to get in to where the person was, just distract them long enough for Riley to run.

Riley was still talking, voice low and easy the way she'd once talked down a defensive, angry, newcomer at school.

"It's cool, man. I'm just passin' through - I ain't supposed to be here either, so I'm not gonna cause you no trouble. I just heard the music - thought it sounded cool - 'n came to see what it was. Seriously, it's just me 'n Ellie - come up here, Ellie."

"_What_?!" Ellie hissed as quietly as she could, glaring daggers, but reluctantly rose (and lifted her hands) to stand with Riley. What the _hell_?

Whatever reason Riley had said what she had, it seemed to do the trick. The boy - and she could see that now, the light from the game machine at his feet throwing shadows all up along the contours of his body - was still holding a gun on them but it was lowering. One long second of hesitation and it disappeared entirely into a shoulder holster under his jacket.

"Um. Hi." Ellie waved one raised hand awkwardly.

The game machine tittered joyously on in the background.

The boy sighed and stooped to pick it up, switching it off with a flick of his thumb.

"Sorry." He said after a beat, accent startlingly foreign. "I've, uh, had quite a bit of trouble with visitors before."

"Well, we're not soldiers." Ellie half-assured, half-joked, jerkily lowering her hands as it dawned on her that she was no longer in danger of having her skull blown apart. The boy snorted softly.

"No," He returned wryly. "Soldiers make their expectations clear and only attack if they think they're under threat or if you disobey. Territorial squatters, on the other hand…" He shrugged. His jacket rustled slightly with the movement. Cautiously, the boy stepped forward - into the light of their torches - and leant on the partition separating him from them. It was a weird tableau, just three teens hanging out in a mall - except the mall was an eroding skeleton and all three of them were armed in one way or another.

The boy himself was plainly homeless. Most people in Boston only washed every other day, on account of plumbing being a dangerous potential carrier of infected water and thus all water having to be boiled before use, but he was the dirty of someone who hadn't seen _any_ water in weeks. His hair was probably black under all the grey-brown dust and his muck-streaked, cracked glasses shielded eyes greener than she'd realised they could actually _be_. His jacket, like his hair, was probably black under all the dust and dirt. It was leather, with a furred collar - although muck and blood had conspired to clump bits of it together, so it looked somewhat like a half-drowned cat draped over his shoulders. It had a zip down the front, broken, and hung permanently open. Underneath was a black shirt with a picture of something blue in the middle. It was chipped and faded a bit but looked like some kind of… rectangular box maybe? Her eyes trailed down even dirtier navy-blue jeans to a pair of trainers that had seen better days about a hundred years ago. A softly cleared throat had her eyes snapping back up, then away. Mortified, she pretended to be looking around for danger, not seeing Riley's expression falter and fall.

"So. Not from around here, huh?" Riley nosed, tone slightly harder. "The international borders were closed decades ago - but you sound fresh from an old BBC tape."

"…I'm from Britain." The boy replied guardedly. "I hitched a lift, ages ago. I don't know about closed borders, but all kinds of boats were going everywhere - the one I was on just ran aground, somewhere north of here. I've been wandering since, trying to… I guess, trying to find somewhere to _go_."

"Yeah." Was all Riley said, quietly comprehending. "Well, heads up, the people running the quarantine zones aren't exactly friendly to their neighbours outside 'em."

Ellie shifted her weight, suddenly feeling like an outsider. The way Riley and the boy talked - like they were somehow so much older than her, or more world-weary or something. Like they had something she didn't, something that connected them. It was annoying and a bit hurtful and then even more annoying for the hurt. Riley was _her_ friend - wasn't she? She'd thought she was _dead_ and then she came back and Ellie was risking expulsion to sneak out with her now… and here she was being ignored for some random guy.

_Okay_, his accent was kinda cool in that _nobody_ sounded like that anymore but... He was just a stranger even if he was their age and, no offence to homeless people, he kinda stank and he'd just been pointing a _gun_ at them not too long ago so... She shot a sideways sort of look at her friend, who didn't glance back.

"Listen, I know some people." Riley continued after a long pause. Her lower lip shifted in the way that meant she was chewing on the inside of it. "They might take you in - they might not. But I can get you an introduction." She slid a look to Ellie and visibly hesitated. Ellie held her breath and tried to blank her expression even as she sent psychic messages along the lines of _don__'t invite him, lets just keep it you n me, don't bring him along with us._

Either she had hitherto undiscovered superpowers, or Riley felt the same way. Her dark-haired friend shook her head, just slightly, before focusing on the boy.

"I'll send one of 'em to talk to you." Her friend continued. The boy stood up, easy posture replaced by something much more guarded.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Was his somewhat chilly reply. "I've fallen for thatbefore. Once was quite enough. You tell anyone you want about me - I won't be here by the time they come."

Riley frowned, then shrugged.

"Whatever man. Your choice. If you change your mind, look for someone wearing this-" she fished out her Firefly tag, flashing the symbol before tucking it away again. "-but be careful. If they think you're working for the government - or even just too stupid to live - they'll probably kill you."

Green eyes narrowed. "Well, they sound like a charming lot. I can't imagine why anyone _wouldn__'t_ want to join." The bite to his sarcasm prompted a reluctant grin from both girls before Riley shrugged again and cocked a wave.

"We're off then. Good luck dude. Oh, and don't follow us - I'm armed too. Fair warning."

A sarcastic salute was her only answer and Riley kept herself between the boy and Ellie until they were well away.

Ellie smiled, happy and guilty at the same time but mostly just glad to have Riley to herself. Even angry at her… she was _alive_ and she was here and she was all hers.

_Knight Errant_

Harry wasn't an idiot. Well, not _every _day of the year anyway. He knew there was a chance the girl had been telling the truth, that she knew someone who might be willing to help him out.

After losing Sirius… he could do with some help. Squatting wasn't too much of a hardship, there were plenty of empty shells to shelter in within Boston but _food_ was hard to come by. Wandering on his own for weeks and weeks… He'd eaten the leaves off of trees and bushes far more often than he'd like to remember, the sour and unpleasant flavours not enough to deter him - not when he'd been so hungry. Not once had he managed to catch any ground animals - not rabbits nor foxes nor feral cats - and the one time he'd snatched a low-flying bird out of the air he'd automatically let it go again as it thrashed in fear.

Any place where humans had once lived - towns, suburbs and burned-out ruins of cities - were infested with the infected and dangerous to be in, making scavenging a deadly gamble. He'd been eating better, sort of, since he'd snuck his way into Boston. The infected were still present but in much lower numbers and even though most places had already been picked over by the locals… well. The people of Boston might not be living in luxury, but they mostly got enough to eat that they threw some of it away.

He'd learned to pick out maggots, pinch off mould and rinse his dumpster food off before he ate it but, despite how revolting it was, he was _still_ eating better than he had in months. Still. It'd be nice not to _need_ to do that any more. If the girl was legit… it was worth checking out.

So, he tailed her, her and her friend who seemed a little more innocent - or maybe sheltered, or just a bit younger. He was good at moving about unseen, had been good at it before he ever went to Hogwarts and he'd only gotten better since landing in America. Whoever the darker girl claimed to know, he'd see _them_ before they saw him. Besides, he knew he wouldn't be able to relax if he never knew whether she'd be sending people after him or not. He'd been alone against the world for a long time and sometimes the worst bit about that was not being safe enough to be defenceless, to _sleep_.

So he followed, he eavesdropped, he grinned to himself at times and wondered at the light-hearted chatter echoing faintly through the building. The girls - Riley? And… Ellie? - were having a mysterious girl-type fight, with words and silences wielded as weapons even in amongst the banter and jokes. It made their conversation seem more private somehow, his own eavesdropping more invasive - but he kept it up anyway, the same way he'd learned that sometimes it wasn't only infected that you had to kill. Nothing personal, just survival.

When the lights slammed abruptly on he almost jumped out of his skin. Shaking slightly from the adrenaline dump (and realising it had been the girls' doing, not a military strike) he'd continued following and found himself a good hiding spot in overgrown shrubbery and then just… watched.

The carousel was _almost_ magical, the glittering relic of the past spinning around as music filled the air and lights glowed in the dark. If he tried, he could almost see the ghosts of the children who would have ridden on it, their mouths and eyes wide with delight, waving at patient, smiling parents standing in a circle on the outside. He'd been on one once, at a school fair. He'd stroked the hard, glossy-painted mane of his horse and loved it with all that he had. He'd pretended it was real, and was carrying him away from the Dursleys, over the ocean towards an island with white sand and banana trees and his parents, patiently waiting for him.

Then Dudley had thrown his icecream cone at him from the tiger behind him, the ride had ended and Aunt Petunia's nails had bit into his upper arm so hard they'd left marks. He'd looked back but his horse was being swarmed by other kids - some complaining about the icecream on the seat and getting off again - its painted eyes staring straight ahead and ignoring him utterly. The experience had ended as most of the good things in his life did - painfully. But still, deep in the back of his psyche, a tiny sliver of his heart still belonged to it and he felt an echo of that love again now.

Then the carousel ground to a halt. Riley groaned at missing out and Ellie pulled her away to another lit-up attraction. The two girls vanished into some sort of photo booth (he'd seen them in shopping centres but never used them) and Harry took the chance to come forward and touch the broken carousel. It was still lit up and the fact that it had worked at all after so many years of stillness and semi-exposure to the elements… was amazing. It had given at least one girl a magical experience and had reminded _him_ of one of his own.

He smiled down at the horse under his hand and pretended, childishly, that it was a cousin of the one he'd first ridden all those years ago.

"Thanks." He whispered, rubbing his hand over its head and down its mane before turning away. This time, he didn't look back.

"_Okay, okay, dinosaur!__'_" Floated from the photo booth as he approached. His lips quirked in a smile as he found a new place to hide. This was just a temporary thing but it was still a nice break from being alone.

"_Puffer fish!_"

He resettled his bag, the makeshift scabbard he'd fashioned for the Sword of Gryffindor running along its length diagonally down his back. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, a thin but unyielding strip of metal almost as long as his leg constantly pressing against his back, but it minimised the amount of light that got reflected by it, potentially giving his position away. He'd already tightly wrapped the handle and hilt in strips of rubber hose and cloth - which had a happy side effect of obscuring the fact that the magical sword was made of pure silver and inset with giant rubies. The sword was his primary defence and he couldn't afford to lose it to idle muggers.

"_Alright, be all sexy!_"

He grinned to himself at that, imagining Ron and Hermione in their place. Hermione would probably frown before awkwardly trying something that wouldn't look sexy in a million years whilst Ron'd go full-blown pouty lips and out-thrust bosom-he-didn't-have.

Merlin he missed them.

"_Oh, we can print our pictures!__"_

"_Cool! Okay. Give us… our pictures!" _

"_Oh my god, I can't believe this is actually gonna work."_

"_I know!"_

"…_oh. Oh, come on! Fuck you!"_

"_Maybe if you hit it up here?"_

Repetitive thumps sounded, heralding the sudden death of the photo booth. The girls didn't seem to take it too hard, stepping out of the photo booth and into the weak dawn light streaming through the glass ceiling above. Ellie pulled out the book of puns Riley had found for her and began reading aloud as they walked, their laughter and groans filling the large space. Left behind, no longer lit up from within, the photo booth looked like it never could have worked at all. Mucky and faded, it was just another broken artifact.

For the thousandth time he wished he still had his wand. A discreet _reparo_ might have been enough to give the girls a more tangible memory of this place - and given _him_ an invisible way to apologise for the necessary stalking he was doing.

As the girls' voices fell fainter - except for one loud exclamation as Ellie discovered what it was like to ride an escalator - Harry left his cover and dropped down to the photo booth. Months without his wand plus trying conditions _had_ led to a slight increase in his wandless magic skills but for the most part it just meant that locks weren't something he ever had to worry about. He suspected his magic was also partly responsible for helping him stay hidden when soldiers or infected were close to finding him, but it also might have just been luck.

Still, he laid his hand against the booth and tried to focus on the printer.

"_Reparo._" He murmured. Nothing happened. He tried several more times, bringing to mind emotional memories to try and trick his magic into surging.

Nothing.

Frustrated, he slapped his hand against the machine and turned to catch up to the girls.

He almost didn't hear the '_snickdt_' of paper dropping from the machine. He turned back and grinned at the sight of four coloured photos, all in a strip, sitting in the output slot. Riley and Ellie grinned back at him as he carefully took it from the machine and slipped it into an inner pocket of his jacket. Now he just needed to work out how to get it to the girls. If they went back the way they came he might be able to just leave it in their path? Thinking it over, he quietly made his way towards them. He could hear them talking up on the second level but couldn't quite make out the words over the hum of the escalator. Not wanting to risk them seeing him take it up, he opted instead to hang out below.

Maybe… maybe he'd reveal himself. See if maybe the three of them couldn't be friends.

Maybe.

_Knight Errant_

Ellie stepped back from the broken game with a grin. Closing her eyes and pretending to play it had felt stupid but Riley had been too genuinely passionate about the fight she was describing to be doing it just to tease her. She'd gotten caught up and… it was _fun_.

But, it was already _after_ 6am. She was gonna miss role-call. She'd put it off, but…

"Hey, you hear that?" Riley asked, moving to the staff door. There was some faint music audible behind it. Ellie barely heard her.

"Hey." She called, lifting a hand and dropping it. "Y'know, we should head back." Riley turned to look at her and Ellie remembered - remembered that Riley was a Firefly now and even if she wasn't, the military school wouldn't take back an AWOL student. Not one gone for as long as Riley had been - nor as old. There _was_ no 'we' anymore.

"_I_ need to head back." She revised.

"You got plenty of time." Riley dismissed, tilting her head with a smile, temptation calling.

"Riley… I don't have any more strikes left at this place." Ellie insisted, a little annoyed to be brushed off so flippantly. Even if she _had_ strikes left… she _didn__'t_ have plenty of time and saying she did was like trying to trick her into getting in trouble.

Still, this was her best friend. She'd thought she was dead for a month, then she'd been as pissed as she was relieved to find her alive. They'd come here, they'd had an _amazing_ time and she'd forgiven Riley for hurting her like she had. They might not be a 'we' anymore when it came to school but… she didn't want to lose her entirely.

"Tomorrow we'll just pick up where we left off." She offered, like her best friend wasn't technically a terrorist slash freedom fighter, like she herself wasn't training to be a soldier and thus the enemy. But, that was still at least a year away - for her at least. Yeah, Riley would be busy but - they'd make time. Just like they used to.

Riley didn't agree. She didn't argue. She just sort of… slumped, inside and out.

"…I can't." The sixteen year old whispered, all her energy and teasing confidence just _gone_.

There was a long moment of stillness and Ellie _knew_, even as she pretended like she didn't, that whatever they had… friendship, whatever… it wasn't going to end in a year.

It was ending _today_.

"Well. We'll just do it another day then." She tried.

Riley just shook her head, trying to smile, hands folded almost nervously together. Her eyes were sad, sad and _wary_ like… like she was about to say that this was just a dream and she really _was_ dead. Like she was about to say something terrible.

"Okay, Firefly-girl, when?" Ellie asked.

Riley looked down, then up.

"They've asked me to leave." She admitted. "Boston. I'm-I'm supposed to join a group in another city." Her face was painted with apologies. Ellie just looked at her.

"I argued with them to stay _here_." Riley pressed, anxious and almost pleading. "But… you know how Marlene is. Nothing's _easy_ with here. Everything's a test." She swallowed, still looking braced for an attack.

"They're picking me up tomorrow."

Ellie shifted her weight. Moved her arms in a sideways sort of shrug.

"Okay."

"That's it?"

"Well, what do you want me to say?"

"I don't know! How about some… friendly advice?"

Ellie made a sound of incredulous disbelief.

"I'm serious."

Ellie stared her down, brows furrowed like she couldn't understand a thing she was saying.

"Why did you _bring _me here?" She demanded.

Riley struggled, visibly forcing herself to be honest.

"I wanted to see you."

"No." Ellie refused. "Why did you bring me _here_."

Here. The arcade. Home to dozens of video games, something Riley had spoken of at length and Ellie had wanted desperately to see ever since. Here, a place they'd snuck off to together and had the most fun in their lives in - beaten only by today.

Riley's eyes were wet. They glittered as she looked away, then back.

"I don't know."

"_I don__'t know_." Ellie repeated almost silently. The words hurt. Losing Riley again - this time by _her_ _choice -_ hurt. "You want my advice?" She asked rhetorically. "Go."

Riley shifted, eyes locked with hers and still wet, like she could be in anywhere near as much pain as Ellie was right now.

"C'mon," Ellie pushed. "Let's just… say our goodbyes." Because if Riley could hurt her like this… well, she knew how to hurt her back. And it wasn't with anger or accusations.

Riley gestured over her shoulder.

"I'm gonna go check out this music." She muttered.

"Riley. Riley!" Ellie called after her. _Fuck_ her, she didn't get to be mad - or hurt! Or walk the hell away because Ellie didn't roll over like a good little girl and do or say what Riley wanted.

"Dammit." She whispered, glaring at a near-by machine before kicking it and stalking after her friend. She wasn't gonna let her just waltz off, let their friendship end on a fight. Even if she had to tackle her to the ground, they were gonna _talk about this_.

Or there would be ball-stomping.

_Knight Errant_

Harry heard a door slam and frowned. Bugger, they were moving on? Not going back? He sighed and rode the escalator up, keeping a sharp eye out for the girls, other trespassers, soldiers or infected. He reached the top just as another door slammed and he caught the movement of it out of the corner of his eye. The girls had gone through an arcade.

Carefully, knowing the door squeaked loudly, he pressed his ear against it and waited several heartbeats before easing it open just enough to look through.

It was dark beyond and his night vision was shot but he was pretty sure he could see a light bobbing around way down the hallway. One of the girls' torches. He waited till it turned a corner and he heard another door opening before he risked pulling the door wider - even with his care it still screeched a bit - and slipped out after her.

He slowed as they moved through a storage area full of mannequins - yeesh, he'd never liked those things - and fell behind as Ellie burst through a door and stopped dead. A second later he could hear her and Riley talking so he fell back a little more in case they backtracked - there weren't many places to hide in a hallway.

"_You don__'t get to be pissed off at me. I'm pissed off at you!_" Floated faintly back to him.

"_For what? Asking you what you think?"_

"_When have you ever cared about what I think?! We were good! We were better than good and then you told me to fuck off, and then you just up and vanish!"_

Harry backtracked a little further, suffering the mannequins so that Ellie and Riley could have a little (unknowing) privacy. It didn't look like they'd be very receptive to a new friend today after all.

_Knight Errant_

"I'm supposed to be holed up on the other side of town." Riley snapped. "I get caught as a _firefly_ and I'm _dead_. 'Guilt' didn't make me cross a city full of soldiers, Ellie. And yeah, I did some shit that I don't know how to take back, but… I'm _trying_." She closed her eyes and snorted, slinging her backpack from her shoulder to the ground between them.

"Speaking of… those water guns you've been dreaming of?" She said, as a pair of orange and green plastic water rifles spilled from the bag. "I nearly got shot for these. Surprise."

Ellie might be two years younger than Riley, but she wasn't an idiot. She heard what her friend was trying to say. Trying to _admit_.

Everyone could be stupid. Could make bad decisions. Could do things they regretted later.

Riley regretted hurting her before and regretted hurting her now, but… sometimes the choices you had to make in life led to hurting the people you cared about. And this… this day… the water guns… it was Riley trying to say 'I'm sorry', trying to _show_ 'I care'. Because her choice, her dream of being a firefly… it wasn't about Ellie. Never had been. It was about freedom, it was about Riley, and to try and change that choice would be to change the person behind it. And… she didn't want that.

She just wanted the whole thing not to _have_ to happen. At fifteen and not wanting to be a soldier, Riley hadn't had a lot of options. At sixteen, in a way, she was _lucky_ to have been able to make the choice she did. They were all gonna die sooner or later, by infected or disease or hunger… at least Riley would go down for a cause she believed in.

She stooped and picked up the water guns. They were heavy, already filled with water.

"Okay." She said calmly. "First? I'm gonna destroy you." She handed over a water gun. Riley took it, still angry and sad and lonely and lost - but now a little hopeful too.

"And then we'll talk."

A slow smile became a grateful grin, Riley backing away as she pumped up some pressure in her weapon. "You're about to get drenched." She taunted. (Thank you.)

"Let's see what you got, Firefly-girl." Ellie taunted back. (You're welcome.)

(We're still friends.)

After a long game of hunt-and-drench they were out of water - and Ellie was out of time. She _really_ needed to get back to the school.

"Can I at least walk you home?" Riley teased, hiding a serious question. Ellie ducked her head and smiled helplessly at her shoes.

"Yeah."

They walked back over to Riley's dropped backpack and Ellie took the chance to properly say what she should have said before.

"Look. I said it like an asshole, but… I totally meant it. You should go. I mean. This is something that you've wanted for… y'know. Forever. So… Who am I to stop you?" She tried to smile as she said it. Tried to make it a joke.

"The one person that _can_." Riley replied, steady-eyed.

Ellie dropped her head, the weight - and the joy - of that power, of that _privilege_ feeling both freeing and suffocating. Riley would _stay_, if she asked. She mattered enough that Riley would _stay_.

But… Riley mattered to _her_ too. She mattered enough that Ellie would take never seeing her again over causing her to miss out on her dream.

"Noooo, please don't gooo!" She hammed. "I'll be sooo miserable without you!"

Riley half-smiled. They both knew how true Ellie's words were. They both knew that she'd never say them as anything but a joke.

"…I'll be fine." Ellie promised her, not looking up. "And _you__'ll_ be fine. And we'll see each other again." It was a promise, not a lie. So long as she believed it, it was a promise.

She glanced up and felt her face heat under Riley's soft regard. It only lasted for a second before the emotions were tucked neatly away, out of sight in an effort to have them equally out of mind. Ellie was glad. Seeing something you couldn't have… it sucked.

"…You should keep these." Riley offered her water gun. "Not gonna do _me_ any good."

Ellie took it and slung her bag off to tuck them away.

"Hey," Riley added. "You still lug that walkman around?"

"Always."

"Lemme see it."

She pulled the walkman out and tucked the water guns in deeper, handing the walkman over at Riley's impatient gesture.

"What's in it?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Thaaaat tape you gave me."

"Huh. You really _will_ be miserable without me." Riley mocked gently, just as expected.

"Shut up."

"Leave the bag. Follow me."

Ellie rolled her eyes again, harder this time. She didn't want to say goodbye any more than Riley did but she was already _late_!

_Well I guess I__'m already gonna get in trouble then_, a voice that sounded like Riley's curled coyly through her thoughts. _May as well make it worth it._

So she left her backpack on the ground next to the other one and followed her friend who was busy hooking her walkman up to some kind of bulky silver box with glowing green numbers and words on the front. A second later, Riley's mix tape was blaring through speakers much larger than in her headphones. The music was _intense_, somehow _more_ than it ever was before.

"Yeah!" Riley grinned at her, starting to bop and sway as she strutted over to a lit counter and climbed on top - where she began dancing.

"Really?"

"C'mere." Riley laughed.

Ellie joined her, shaking her head. "This is so stupid." She grinned, but awkwardly bopped along to the beat anyway. Riley laughed and grabbed her arms, forcing her to dance more loosely and energetically. The music blared, they were both giggling and before long were strutting their stuff ever more elaborately on their own private dance floor.

It was _fun_.

And all at once, Ellie knew she couldn't do this. Knew she couldn't be the graceful person who sacrificed their happiness for another's. Knew she couldn't live without Riley in her life, without _this feeling_.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked, noticing that she'd stopped dancing - or moving. Ellie just stared at her, denial wiped clean away and only desperate pain, longing and maybe even love left behind.

"Ellie?"

Blue eyes flickered, down and up, down and up, before:

"Don't go." She whispered. She felt her eyes prickle with oncoming tears.

Riley just looked at her for a long time but not angrily or sad. She looked almost… relieved. Her lips kept twitching, like she had to stop herself from smiling. Slowly, her hand lifted to close over the firefly pendant she'd worked so hard to earn.

She yanked it off with one sharp tug and threw it to the floor.

And she looked happy about it.

Caught in a surge of joy (Riley was _staying!)_ and awe (she's staying for me!) and relief (Oh god what if I hadn't asked, it would have been too late, we'd have never seen each other again, but I did and she is and, and-), Ellie surged forward. She was almost as surprised as Riley when their lips met in a kiss, chaste but so, _so_ grateful. She stepped back quickly but couldn't quite stop herself from smiling. She'd never been so _happy_! Even if Riley didn't want… _it_, she was still her friend. Still cared enough to _stay_.

But Riley didn't look upset or disgusted or unwilling. Her own smile had just widened right alongside her eyes. She looked… like she'd just gotten everything she'd ever wanted on a _plate_.

"For _what_?" She replied, both of them blind to everything but the other.

Ellie took a deep breath. Let it out. Shook her head.

"What do we do now?" She asked. Abstractly she was thinking of finding a place, either in the zone proper or somewhere outside it they could make safe. Ellie would gladly be a soldier to help support them, until Riley found something outside it and then Ellie would too. Or maybe Marlene would help them find a job that was somewhere quiet - she'd always had a weird soft spot for her after all, right? Had promised her mom she'd take care of her? Suddenly, the world seemed full of possibilities.

Riley just shrugged, helpless and maybe a little scared but carrying the same hope that Ellie was. "We'll… figure it out." She offered, before huffing a laugh. "But, I don't think Marlene's gonna go for it-"

"Wait." Ellie cut her off, already turning away. Something - movement, noise, maybe a sixth sense - had her heart jerking with sudden fear.

For half a split second, she thought maybe it was that boy they'd found.

It wasn't.

"Riley!" She yelped as infected rushed into the store. Shit, _shit_ the music! It was loud, echoing… it had drawn them in!

Riley pulled a gun from under her over-shirt and shot two dead. Two bullets, two skulls, in two moving targets. She'd always been an incredible shot at school and her time with the Fireflies seemed to have only made her better.

But she only had the one gun and more infected were pouring in.

"Ellie, RUN!"

_Knight Errant_

Gunshots snapped him out of a light doze. Not automated weapons which meant not-soldiers.

The girls!

_Shit_!

He bolted towards the room Ellie had disappeared into before. There were no more gunshots, they both might already be dead with him just a room and a hall away. Shit _shit_.

He burst into the department store just in time to attract three nearby infected. He dove to the side, rolling behind a display case and came up swinging the Sword of Gryffindor.

A head sprouting fungus like a butterfly's wings hit the ground with a thud. The door he'd just came through slammed shut - from the _other_ side. The girls must have darted past whilst he was behind the case. A scraping noise and the banging of infected trying to force the doors open hinted that they'd managed to jam the door somehow.

So, he wasn't getting out _that_ way.

The third infected he'd attracted was pulled back to the door by the commotion but the second was still coming for him, screaming and flailing. His sword sang through the air as he ducked and turned, neatly slicing through the infected's knees and dropping him - screaming even louder - to the floor.

It was maybe cruel, but he couldn't stick around to put him out of his misery.

He ran. Alone in an unfamiliar place, fresh infected spotting him and giving chase, he was probably going to die today.

But then, he'd thought that before and lived.

So he ran.

_Knight Errant_

Her heart kicked in her chest, nose and throat and lungs raw with panted breath and terror barely enough to keep driving her forward.

But the infected were right behind her! She could hear the scuff of their shoes on the floor, feel the brush of air as they swiped at her and missed, could _smell_ the horrible combination of degrading flesh and growing fungus.

"This way! Come on!" Ahead of her, the light from Riley's torch bounced and skittered over boxes and locked doors, swinging from side to side as her friend shot those infected that got too close and searched for an exit.

"The scaffolding! It's our way out, come on!"

They ran, Riley leading and Ellie desperately trying to keep up. Riley shot only those she had to, trying to conserve her ammo. When one got the drop on her, Ellie _threw_ herself onto its back, snapping out her switchblade and stabbing it over and over before remembering to aim for the head. She got it in the eye.

For a split second, before they kept running, she met Riley's eyes. The awe - and trust - in Riley's made her feel like she could take on the world.

Then reality snapped at their heels and her switchblade was just a small sharp stick again. They ran.

"Here, here! The window, it's open!"

They broke into a warmer area with glass walls and ceilings making an almost conservatory section. The promised scaffolding was there, leading out onto some giant letters and a second scaffold through one large open window. They climbed, the old scaffolding shaking but holding. Ellie helped boost Riley up the last stretch - something like a giant table on four wheels - and glanced around. They'd left some infected behind them but there were infected _here _too, drawn by the noise of their frantic sprint.

The wheeled part of the scaffold wobbled but held and Riley, standing on the window ledge now, turned to help her.

Ellie couldn't wait, an infected was clambering up right behind her and they'd done this sort of climb every morning during military drills. She jumped, latched on to the edge-

And fell as one of the wheels _slipped_ and the whole thing came crashing down.

"Oh god!" She gasped, locking terrified eyes with Riley.

"Ellie!" She heard as she hit the edge of the level below full on her back, bouncing off to hit the ground _hard_. Her skull bounced off - only a thin layer of dirt and water covering the cement below - and she rolled onto her back, barely conscious.

"_**Ellie!**_" The sound of her name combined with the pain in her back roused her just enough to throw her arms up as an infected fell upon her. Shaking and weak, she barely kept his teeth from tearing open her throat.

"Get off!" She shouted desperately, her training prompting her to move her right arm - her dominant arm - from a weak position (elbow bent, palm pressing against her attacker's shoulder, only the dwindling strength of her muscles keeping him back) to a strong one (arm bent at 90 degrees, the structural strength of her bones now keeping her attacker away).

Her forearm, wet with water and sweat both, slipped and slid over the infected's face before lodging securely against his throat and under his jaw.

"_Riley_!" She cried. The second it stopped trying to bite her and tried hitting instead, she was dead.

Two shots rang out, then a dark-skinned hand was gripping her attacker by the hair and yanking him brutally back for two _more_ shots, point blank.

Between the two of them they shoved off the 190 pounds of dead weight then Riley stuck out her hand to help Ellie.

"Quickly! Get up-" She broke off as a much quieter infected came outta _nowhere_ and tackled her to the side.

"Riley!" Ellie gasped, scrambling to her feet. She was exhausted, she was in pain, she was _terrified_. Blind to everything but her friend she didn't notice another infected until it slammed her against the railing below the scaffold. Her back radiated pain and she panted with it even as she wedged a knee between them and her left arm up against the infected's throat. Her right went for her knife but _the infected caught it_ and began mindlessly tugging at it, viciously trying to pull her away and closer at the same time. His right hand was scrabbling at her arm, her side, her hair-

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't look away. They were gonna die here, she was gonna die here. Her strength was gone. She was gonna die and then Riley would die and everything, all of it, would all be for nothing!

Painfully, she turned her head to the side. Riley was still struggling under her own attacker, one hand gripping her gun - held down by the infected - and the other performing a similar move to keep gnashing teeth away from her. Her infected was clawing at that arm however, gripping it, yanking it away-

A dark shape dropped down out of the sky, a shining sweep of silver sliced Riley's attacker in two before her saviour twisted, gun in hand, to aim for Ellie's.

One shot blew his head into soupy pieces, Ellie only just turning her face away and slamming her eyes shut in time to avoid the worst of the spray.

Then it was silent but for three people breathing hard and looking around for more.

Riley kicked the remains of her attacker off and shakily climbed to her feet.

Ellie swallowed and staggered closer to her.

"I think it's clear." She said, wanting to close and bar the doors just to make sure but also not wanting to go near them. She turned to the person who'd saved their lives.

Harry was staring past her, also looking for danger, but seemed to notice her scrutiny. He offered a weak smile, a sort of 'so, that happened' expression that she almost smiled back at. The sword in his hand was just too unreal though, it just threw the image of him sideways. His glasses were dorky but the sword made him look almost badass.

"Ellie." Riley's quiet voice drew her attention.

"Ellie, your arm."

She glanced down. Her right forearm kinda ached but nowhere near as much as her back or her head. It was bloody, but then she'd just had a guy's head explode right next to her.

She smeared the blood away.

Fresh blood trickled out of a semi-circle of holes. Out of the _bite_.

She'd been bitten. She was infected.

"No." She whispered, wiping the blood away again. She'd have felt it, wouldn't she? She'd have known. When-when could this have happened? "No, no no no no…"

It wouldn't wipe away.

She looked up, almost floating inside her own head. Riley looked devastated but Harry… he just looked resigned. He turned his back to her and stiffly shrugged his jacket down a little, exposing his neck. The back of it was messy with blood and stuck hair but underneath a bite mark of his own was still plainly visible. He let her look for a second longer, then shrugged his jacket back on and moved to sit on the edge of the planter that Riley was still sprawled beneath. He kept his eyes on the ground. Riley kept hers on Ellie.

Ellie turned away from her and, knowing she was about to scream or cry, chose screaming. Every curse she knew, foul and mild, roared from her. When that wasn't enough she snatched up a fallen pipe and went to town on anything she could get to - the shop's windows, old pottery, the trees - anything that would break.

Behind her, under the noise of her grief and rage, Harry turned to Riley. The girl was just as devastated as her friend, she just quieter about it. Harry knew a little something (a lot) about survivor's guilt and when he saw how Riley counted her bullets - how she relaxed when she found she had three left - he had an inkling about just what her plan was going to be.

If it had been him and Ron and Hermione, with himself in her place… he'd probably do the same.

"Hey." He called, low and discreet. "Give me your hand."

"What?" Riley hissed back, annoyed with him for breaking into her grief or maybe just annoyed that he was here at all. Harry didn't let it bother him.

"Give me your hand."

"_What_?" This time she slid him a look of concentrated distaste. He sighed.

"You don't want her to go through this alone. I can see that. Give me your hand for a second."

She eyed him. He waited. He could see when she came to the (wrong) conclusion that he was offering to infect her. She gave him her hand.

Snitch-quick, he pulled his hunting knife and stabbed her quickly but carefully in the fleshy part of her hand. She hissed, but Ellie was still making way too much racket to hear them. Once there were enough little rectangular holes, he let her go.

She blinked at him.

"I'm not going to deliberately infect you." He said flatly. "I know you're grieving and probably want it right now, but. No. At least this way you can be… you can be there for her. _With_ her. If you want."

She blinked again as she understood. Her whole bearing softened in gratitude. He was right. It didn't matter if she was _truly _infected or not - what mattered was that Ellie _thought_ she was. That Ellie didn't feel alone in this.

And once the worst happened? Once Ellie was… _gone_.

Well. That's why they made guns.

Exhausted, Ellie stumbled back over. Riley caught her eye, then held up her 'bitten' hand. It was gratifying to see the renewed pain on Ellie's face - for Riley this time - even though she felt a bit guilty for putting it there. The shadow of relief at not being alone made it bearable though.

Without a word, Harry gave up spot so that she could sit down next to her friend. The British boy wandered over to the doors, the girls watching as he carefully closed and braced one set then painstakingly - and somewhat needlessly considering the noise their guns and Ellie had just made - barricading the entrance that couldn't be closed.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Ellie asked after a moment. Her voice was wrecked from screaming and fear both.

"I didn't notice it at first." Riley lied. "Only when I went to put my weight on it - then I felt it."

"Oh."

There was a long silence, Ellie's arm - cold and damp - pressed up against her own.

A sucked-in sob and Ellie's voice wobbled in the air.

"What are we gonna do?"

Riley just felt calm. Maybe it was shock, but there was peace that came with making a decision. Her life had been at risk multiple times in the past. She'd killed a recently-infected man who'd begged her not to, for her Firefly initiation. Life was fast and fleeting and she knew that in her core. She didn't mind dying, especially not with Ellie. But then, _she_ had a choice in the matter. Ellie didn't.

"The way I see it," She said quietly, "we got two options. Option One?" She lifted the gun and turned to make sure Ellie knew what she was talking about. Blue eyes were fixed on it, deader than they'd ever been before.

"We take the easy way out. It's quick and painless." She watched Ellie, her girl taking deep breaths to try and emulate her calm. That was her girl, though. Tough, down in her core where most people didn't look. It gave her faith in Option Two.

She put the gun down on the ground and let it go.

Ellie looked back over.

"I'm not a fan of Option One." Riley confessed. "Option Two? We fight."

"Fight for _what_?" Ellie demanded. Her voice shook, but held. "We're gonna turn into one of those things."

Riley thought about it. Thought about what she could say, that might ease Ellie through this - if only a little.

"…There are a million ways we should've died before today." She said slowly. "And a million ways we can die before tomorrow. But we fight. For _every_ second we get to spend with each other - whether it's two minutes or two days. We don't just give that up."

She looked at her, at Ellie, the girl she teased and dragged along on adventures, the girl she got into trouble and the girl she'd hurt so bad.

The girl she'd gotten killed, out of a selfish desire to see her.

The girl she loved.

"_I_ don't want to give that up."

Ellie's lip trembled and she ducked her head. Riley turned her eyes away. On the far side of the room, Harry - another person she'd gotten killed, if very indirectly - kept himself busy making just enough noise to prevent himself from accidentally eavesdropping. His sword was on his back, tucked under his backpack. His blood stood out starkly on the back of his neck whenever he bent it to do something.

He was a stranger, but he'd tried to help them. Maybe even got bitten for trying. She felt a fondness for him that had everything to do with circumstance and onrushing death.

"My vote?" She continued. "Let's just wait it out." Even as she said it, she felt a curl of hope. Maybe maybe maybe. Maybe Ellie had bled enough that she'd accidentally cleared the wound, like with a heavily bleeding snakebite. The forearm was where people cut themselves in order to die, right?

And, even if it didn't? At least they'd be together. They'd have minutes, hours, maybe even days.

"You know, we can… be all poetic and just lose our minds together."

They breathed, huddled together against inevitability.

"…Wha-what's option three?" Ellie pleaded faintly, knowing there was none. Riley felt the sting regardless.

"Sorry." She whispered. Ellie turned into her, ghosting an apologetic smile. They rested their foreheads against each other, breathing each other's air.

Then Riley was standing, stretching a hand down to her again.

"C'mon. Let's get out of here."

Ellie took it and was pulled to her feet. She sniffled, but it was easier to press back now.

"What about Harry?" She asked belatedly. They glanced over again. Harry was sitting on a low bench, hands clasped, head down. He looked utterly alone, just waiting to die.

"Harry's coming with us." Riley answered more strongly. "Right, Harry?"

The head of black hair lifted. Green eyes flicked between them both before settling on Riley, something like gratitude shining briefly.

"Right." The boy answered softly, rising and joining them.

Together, the three of them climbed the scaffolding and left the mall.

Today was a new day. Their last day.

They'd make it count.

**Knight Errant**

BOOM, changed things up. Riley ain't infected, oh my. ;)

So what do you think? I know some readers haven't actually played or watched Last of Us (you're missing out!) but I hear the developers are trying to make a movie version so maybe some day you'll get to enjoy the awesome canon.

For those who were wondering, Harry was playing Zelda: Link's Awakening on GameBoy. The insanely cheerful tune was 'Sword Search' according to YouTube. Or was it 'Mabe Village'? One of the two. If that isn't sufficiently inappropriately cheerful for you, please feel free to replace it with a tune of your own. :)

I based the 'exploding head' thing on the way Joel crushes skulls in canon. The fungus must surely weaken the skull's internal structure because when he stomps? Heads splatter.

The next chapter will probably focus on the progression of their infections.


End file.
